New paper published in Aerosol Measurement Techniques (AMT) by Spanu et al.

17.04.2020

Flow-induced errors in airborne in situ measurements of aerosols and clouds

by Antonio Spanu, Maximilian Dollner, Josef Gasteiger, T. Paul Bui, and Bernadett Weinzierl
https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-13-1963-2020

Short Summary: This study investigates how the airflow around wing-mounted instruments on fast-flying aircraft affects aerosol and cloud measurements. It combines airborne data with numerical simulations and shows that particle speed, particle concentration, and shape of water droplets are modified by the airflow. The proposed correction strategy for optical particle counters and optical array probes considers airflow effects and significantly reduces errors of derived ambient aerosol and cloud properties.

Schematic of the DLR Falcon research aircraft with a mounted wing-probe. Picture (a) illustrates the static pressure and picture (b) the velocity field as the ratio compared to the free field.

© A. Spanu